Georgia Worsfold - One hour photo

The main character – what sort of person?

• He comes across as a plain individual, I think this because of the clothes he is wearing and also his facial expressions. But this could just be because of the situation he is in.
• His facial expressions are very minimal, and do not seem to show much emotion. He comes across as quite sinister because of this. You don’t get any initial feelings of why he is in the station when you first see him.
• He also seems like a very calm person even when at the police station.
• I personally think that the main character is a confused individual. I think that there is a lot more about him that we do not know about.

The opening credits

• The opening credits are very effective. If you look into them more then they are telling you a lot about what the film is about.
• Firstly the music is slow, very classical thriller music. It builds up the tension even though it’s just in the credits, it gets slightly louder as the credits go on. Makes you think that’s something big is going to when nothing happens. It’s keeps you on edge, and makes you think more about what is happening in the next scene.
• There is a flash within each piece of writing, a camera flash, which goes nicely with what the film is about.
• After the flash the writing goes a red colour, with the music this makes you think about blood.
• After watching the whole clip the line ‘they’re not very pretty pictures’ comes up.
• Once thinking about the credits more it ties in with what I think the film is about. From what the police man said it makes you think that the photographs are of murders. So the credits in a way show the flash of the main character taking a photograph and then the end product (the writing goes red) of a photograph of a murder scene (blood).

Camera work

• The camera is in the middle of the shot, with a plain background. So you can only focus on the camera and not get distracted by anything else.
• The camera takes a photograph of the main character, and this is the first time you see him. This shot works really well as he is against a plain background for the photo. This allows you to take in what he looks like and not get distracted by things happening in the background.
• In the shot with the TV there was a pan and a slight tilt which lead you to the interrogation room. This was done really effectively as it made you feel that you were in the room watching over the person.
• There were various mid close ups, and close up shots of the main character, these were used for the audience to see his reaction and facial expressions to the questions he was being asked.
• Also there were a few shots of the police man which showed how he was feeling towards the main character when he was asking him the questions.

Sound

• The music is very intense and prolonging which makes you want to know what’s going to happen. As it goes on for so long you start to get used to it, so when the camera takes a photograph, it gives off a little jump effect, which startles you.
• When it’s building up to the flashback there are birds singing, laughing etc (happy sounds). You then want to know what happened to him, from his past seeming so happy and content to where he has ended up now, in the police station.
• The difference to the music in the credits and the flashback is the pitch, the music in the credits is very low and this is what makes it sinister. The music in the flashback is much higher pitched which automatically seems much more friendly than a lower pitch.
• There is no music or sounds playing apart from a grainy noise when the main character and the policeman are talking. This makes it much easier to concentrate on what they are saying to one another. If there was music playing, even quietly it could distract you, then you could miss important information.

The setting and lighting

• Limited colours, they are very cold and not warm like the flashback is. Because of this, it makes it very easy to tell the difference between the present and past
• The police station is very straight forward and official, also clean. They have shown this by having offices etc without people in, so you get a clear sight of what the environment is like.
• Also the lighting has helped with this, there was high key lighting in the interrogation room, this makes the room look much more larger and cleaner, as the light acts like mirrors, as if it is reflecting the rooms walls.
• There was low key lighting in the office which leads to the interrogation room. As the interrogation room is high key, it made it stand out more. So then you can easily follow the camera.

Mise en Scene

• In the flashback you can tell that it is a young boy’s party, you can tell this because of the camera work, as it focuses on a boy. And also because of the props used, such as balloons and hats etc.
• The clothes worn are casual, this makes everything seem normal, and not out of the ordinary.
• Also with the clothing worn by the main character they seen rather normal. This makes it harder for audience to guess what crime he could have committed. He doesn’t look like the ordinary villain.